Sign-letter and holder.



F. THUNELL. SIGN LETTER AND HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a0, 1916.

Patented Sept. 1-1, 1917.

FRED THUNELL, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

SIGN-LETTER AND HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. ii, ioiv.

Application filed September 30, 1916. Serial No. 123,000.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED THUNELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sign-Letters and Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sign letters and holders, and pertains especially to street sign letters and devices for holding and suspend-' ing the letters in readable position from a lamp post or other stationary object as desired.

The object of the invention is to provide certain improvements in the construction of sign letters which makes them interchangeable in the application thereof to a special bracket or letter holder.

A. further object of the invention is to provide sign letters of such novel and peculiar construction as to afford means for interchangeably assemblin the same in two readable positions on one and the same holder.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel and peculiar sign letter holder adapted to interchangeably retain the letters in two readable positions, and to fur nish a special device for clamping and locking the letters in the holder.

Various other objects, advantages and improved results are attainable in the practical application of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this application 2- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the application of the invention to a street lamp post.

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section partly broken away, showing letters, characters and spacing blocks, clamped and locked in position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the means for clamping and locking the letters in the holder.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the clamping end of the holder.

Fig. i is an enlarged section of the end of the holder containing the clamping device.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a letter of one of the sets of letters.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of one of the letters of the other set.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the lock nut.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of letter.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the application of the modified letter.

The same reference characters denote the same parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

While the sign is shown as attached to a street lamp post 1, it may be attached to such other objects or articles as desired, without changing the construction of the bracket or holder.

The bracket or holder comprises preferably a concaved, convexed plate 2, serrated at the edges on the inner or concaved. face, as at 3, and said plate has a slot 4;, for one end of the letter-supporting bar or arm 5, and suitable apertures used in attaching the plate in sign-holding position. The arm 5 is braced with respect to the plate by means of a brace 6 having pins 7 fitting sockets 8 and 9 respectively in the arm 5 and in the plate 2. iiill of the said parts are preferably separable and without securing means or devices other than the close-fitting joints between the parts, so that they may be assembled in sign position and disassembled without the application of tools or implements. The bar or arm 5 comprises a central web 5 having a pair of parallel longitudinal top flanges 10, and a like pair of bottom flanges 11, with a space between the flanges of each pair so as to form a gutter or race for the sign letters, characters and the spacing blocks. One of the flanges of each pair is provided on the inner face with a longitudinal tongue 12, and at the outer end of the tongues each flange has a vertical groove 13, provided with a beveled edge 13, for a lock nut l i, which will be hereinafter particularly described.

The sign letters 15, of the set now to be referred to being all of the same construction, only one of them will be described in detail. The base of the letter has a pair of longitudinal grooves 16, one on each side thereof, so as to leave a rib 17 below each groove. The grooves 16 fit the tongues 12, and the ribs 17 fit between. the lower edge of the tongues and the central web 5 These letters and the spacing blocks 18, which have the same grooves as the grooves 16, are interchangeable and reversible with respect to the upper and lower races, so that the same sign may be shown as reading in opposite directions. Referring to the other letters l7 as shown in Fig. 6, the top of the letters has a head 19, provided with grooves 20, and ribs 21, for the lower race. These letters are intended to depend from the bottom of the holder so as to be used in conjunction with the letters first described.

The device for clamping or looking all of the letters, characters and spacing blocks in the arm 5, consists of the nut 14, the outer face of which has a pair of beveled grooves 22. The beveled face of the nut grooves 22 engage the beveled edge 13 of the flange grooves 13, so that a portion of the nut engages the inner face of the flanges 10 or 11, and a portion of the nut is dovetailed into said flanges,thereby preventing longitudinal movement and lost motion of the nut, yet permitting the nut to be withdrawn vertically from the flanges after removal of the screw. The nut accommodates a set screw 23, operated in the outer end of the arm 5, there being a nut and screw for each letter race, so that'the inner end of the screw works against either a letter or a spacing block and forces the letter and the blocks tightly together, thereby clamping and looking the letters and the blocks in the races. The nuts and screws are removed without separation for removing and replacing the letters. Obviously one or more bracket-arms may be attached to the same post or object for indicating cross streets or streets running in various directions, and the various characters, designs and advertising elements may have the same construction as the letters, and applied to the arm, and the arm used in the same manner as hereinbefore described, or in any other desirable position.

Referring now to the modification shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the back face of the letters 25 has a T-shaped tongue 26, which fits and is slidable in a T-shaped groove 27 formed in a supporting plate or board 28.

I do not wish to limit the invention to any particular letters or characters, to the lower or the upper position of the letter grooves, nor to any particular size or material of the letters or of the holder. Neither do I wish to confine myself with respect to the purposes and application of the invention, but reserve the right to make such changes and variations in the construction and in the practical use of the invention as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A bracket for sign letters comprising a supporting arm, pairs of arm flanges terminating in sockets at one end of the arm,

a tongue on the inner face of one of the flanges of each pair, a nut having vertical displacement at the inner end of each socket and held against longitudinal movement, and set screwsworking in the sockets and through thenuts.

2. A bracket for street sign letters, comprising a supporting arm having a postsocket end, two pairs of flanges extending from said end, a tongue on. the inner face of one of the flanges of each pair, said flanges having vertical grooves at one end of the tongues, grooved nuts fitting the vertical grooves'for fixing the nuts against longitudinal movement and permitting vertical displacement of the nuts, and set screws contained between the flanges and working through the nuts.

In witness whereofl hereunto set my hand in the'presence of two witnesses. r FRED THUNE'LL. lVitnesses: V

HUGO B. Annnnson, J. Tracey WOOTTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0'1 Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

